xvi, 392 pages : 24 cm

According to Jewett and Lawrence, American civil religion has both a humane, constitutional tradition and a violent stand that is now coming to the fore. The crusade to rid the world of evil and "evildoers" derives from the same biblical tradition of zealous warfare and nationalism that spawns Islamic and Israeli radicalism. In America, where this tradition has been popularized by super heroic entertainments, the idea of zealous war is infused with a distinctive sense of mission that draws on secular and religious images. These crusading ideals are visible in such events as the settling of the western frontier, the World Wars, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and America's present war on terrorism

This critical book, however, is also immensely constructive. As Jewett and Lawrence point out, the same biblical tradition that allows for crusading mentalities also contains a critique of zealous warfare and a profound vision of impartial justice. This tradition of prophetic realism derives from the human side of the biblical heritage, and the authors trace its manifestations within the American experience, including its supreme embodiment in Abraham Lincoln. Isaiah's "swords into plowshares" image is carved on the walls of the United Nations building, thus standing at the center of a globally focused civil religion

Grasping this vision honored by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike includes recognizing the dangers of zealous violence, the illusions of current crusading, and the promise of peaceful coexistence under international law

Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-371) and indexes

1. The challenge of a contradictory civil religion -- The strange persistence of biblical language -- The steady theme of redeeming the world -- A contradictory civil religion in the time of jihad -- 2. The endangered towers and the crusade against jihad -- Contradictory responses -- The background of September 11 -- Martial response and lost opportunities -- Militant jihad's rationale -- The parallel logic of crusade and jihad -- 3. Popular culture as a bearer of the national complex -- Superheroic entertainments and civil religion -- The rise of the American monomyth -- The popularization of crusading zeal -- American superheroism as a threat to democracy -- The challenge of pop fascism -- 4. A rod of iron or a light to the nations -- The birth of Israelite zeal and realism -- The critique of zealous warfare by prophetic realists -- Israel's dilemma during the Roman period -- The Book of Revelation and the dominance of zealotry -- 5. America's zeal to redeem the world -- The rise of a millennial mission -- Clashes between zealous nationalism and prophetic realism -- Zeal's frustration and the claim of manifest destiny -- The religious impulse in American imperialism -- World War I as a millennial crusade -- World War II and the disjunction between zeal and realism -- 6. The frustration of American zealous nationalism -- The Cold War's thwarted crusade -- Brinkmanship and the ideology of anti-communism -- The arrogant missteps of global idealism -- Defeated superheroism in Vietnam -- Zealous nationalism and the loss of honor -- 7. The ascendancy of mythic politics -- Artificial euphoria and the Mayaguez episode -- Carter's failure at domestic superheroism -- Reagan and the ephemeral triumph of macho superheroism -- The mirage of invulnerable defense -- Illusions of national innocence -- The Gulf War and the lost chance for prophetic realism -- Clinton's frivolous use of mythic politics -- 8. The rapturous rebirth of millennial zealotry -- The recent popularity of the doom boom -- The background of millennial theology -- Calendars for the rapture -- Recent forms of millennial civil religion -- Jerusalem and the end of days -- Responsible uses of the apocalyptic -- 9. The global popularization of zeal and jihad -- The recent militarization of jihad -- Zealous fervor in Israel -- Spiraling sanctified violence -- Aum Shinrikyo in Japan -- Seeking responsible forms of zeal and jihad -- 10. Consumed by zeal and jihad -- Zeal in the Bible -- Hot zeal in its modern embodiments -- The dominance of cool zeal -- Artful zeal's destructive legacy -- The all-consuming nature of zeal and jihad -- The need for modest zeal and jihad -- 11. Evil as a grand conspiracy -- Conspiracy theory in the Bible -- A realistic theory of evil -- Grand conspiracies in American politics -- Conspiracy theory and the Vietnam War -- Paths away from the grand conspiracy -- 12. Stereotypes of good and evil -- The rise of stereotypes in biblical history -- American adaptations of ancient stereotypes -- Six features of popular stereotypes -- Problematic stereotypes in recent history -- Three negative effects of stereotyping -- Five strategies to overcome destructive stereotypes -- 13. To convert them or destroy them -- Redemptive violence in the Bible -- Violence and America's sense of mission -- The mystique of violence in American wars -- Hosea's critique of the mystique of violence -- Overcoming the illusions of redemptive destruction -- 14. Neither humiliation nor defeat -- Victory as the reward for piety in the Old Testament -- The Deuteronomic principle in American history -- Mythic responses to defeat -- The impact of defeat on civil religion -- Bringing prophetic resources to the experience of defeat -- 15. Crusades against symbolic desecration -- The struggle to prevent flag desecration -- The danger of sanctifying national symbols -- Holiness as a theological issue -- Muslim campaigns against desecration -- Ominous parallels in the flag desecration campaign -- Biblical links between desecration and zealous violence -- 16. Prophetic realism in response to jihad -- Isaiah's vision for conflict resolution -- A vision of global government -- Waning American support for international law -- Recovering America's constitutional mission

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